Monday, August 24, 2009

Sunday and Monday workouts

Sunday, I was hoping to go for a bike ride, but the weather just didn't cooperate. It rained lightly all morning and the roads stayed wet all day. I might just be a coward, but if it's not a race, I see no reason to ride on wet, slick roads. So, I did an easy 5 mile run instead. I thought I'd run with my wife, but after she did 12 on Saturday, she opted for a long walk with my son and the dogs instead.

After my run, I think I read for most of the day, taking a break just to cook and eat dinner. I fell asleep early, listening to the radio as Josh Beckett was giving up too many home runs to the Yankees.

This morning, I started a new lifting routine. Yet somehow, I managed to tweak something in my back during my warm-up. The warm-up didn't change, just the workout, so I don't know how I managed to hurt my back just getting ready to work out. Right now, I'm not comfortable sitting or laying down or in any other position. I've done this periodically before and it usually passes in a couple of days. Maybe my body was telling me that it needs a break. I've been continuing to push reasonably hard, assuming I'll get an easy week next week after my PRP treatment. Maybe I'll get an easy week this week as well.

Last week, I ran 4 times and lifted 4 times. My back to back runs on Saturday and Sunday were my first back to back runs, of any distance, in quite a while.

On another note, I'm thinking of finally doing something I've wanted to do for 30+ years. Recently, my son expressed an interest in learning to play the keyboards, and we bought him an electric keyboard and scheduled him for lessons. On Saturday, we were in the music store looking at sheet music for him, and a used 1964 Fender Stratocaster Mustang caught my eye. From what I've read, the Mustang was a 3/4 size guitar, designed for students just learning to play. I talked to a friend this morning who teaches guitar lessons and plays in the band The Kind Buds, a local jam band that plays lots of Grateful Dead covers. He said the guitar was a great guitar for learning and agreed to teach me on that guitar. So, assuming no one bought the guitar Saturday after I left the store, I will likely buy it this week and start lessons shortly.

Many, many years ago, I spent two years learning the French Horn. My instructor eventually suggested that I didn't have the ear for the instrument and that I should give it up. I'm hoping that I'm not too old right now to re-learn how to read music or to learn a new skill. Besides, if my hamstring doesn't heal properly, I'm going to have a lot of time to practice.